The visitors came out guns blazing with Ronaldo flicking Bale’s pass to Benzema who volleyed home inside five minutes. Ike Casillas made a great save after Julian Draxler’s cushioned shot. Not long after, Bale made it 2-0 after dribbling defenders before poking the ball into the net.

Madrid approached half time with a commanding lead. In the second half, the home side had re-grouped themselves but things went from the frying pan into the fire. Bale came with a great pass to Ronaldo who smashed a shot into the far corner to give his side a comfortable lead in the 52nd minute.

The French striker, Benzema, completed his brace as he stunned home crowd into silence, giving his side an unassailable lead in the 57th minute.

Schalke went on rare counterattacks after Madrid midfielders gave away the ball to Jefferson Farfán but nothing came out of it.

Benzema combined with Ronaldo to add the fourth and Sergio Ramos sent Bale clear for the fifth.An utterly embarrassing night for the home side as Ronaldo added the sixth goal.

Real Madrid superstar celebrates after scoring one of his two goals against Schalke 04 on Wednesday. Picture by Realmadrid.com

Klaas-Jan Huntelaar scored a consolation goal for the hosts.

Madrid head Carlo Ancelotti hailed his team’s “perfect” performance.

“I am satisfied about everything, because the team played a perfect game,” Ancelotti said after the match.

“After the early goal, we started getting a lot of room that was the reason for our perfect night. It was fantastic, everything went well for us.

“The advantage is big, but we want to make sure we go through. We need to have respect for Schalke and our fans, so we will be putting out our best possible side for the return leg.”